Final arguments will be made before a federal appeals court on Monday regarding whether a list of people suspected of — but not charged with — involvement in the politically motivated closure of access lanes to the George Washington Bridge should be released to the public.

Even if you don’t care about “Bridgegate” as a political scandal in New Jersey, this is actually a good case to watch in terms of what courts will make public and what they won’t – and why. In the past, I once tried, as media, to get confirmation/release of an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal matter. I got nowhere, but then, I didn’t have a bunch of media outlets and big law firms helping me try to make the case for disclosure.

And John Doe actually has an interesting (to me, anyway) argument: if his name is released, his reputation is tarnished because he does not have a chance to actually defend himself against the government’s claim that he was a co-conspirator.

Are you assuming the prosecutors are right/accurate in accusing him of being a co-conspirator? He has not been indicted or charged with anything. He’d be presumed innocent if he was actually charged. But he won’t if he’s just named in court records but never tried.